12 Fathom: Pure Gold

I had this email from a while back. I thought answering it would make an article where I could draw ALL of the 12 Fathom stuff together. 12 Fathom/Producto is the best company I have been affiliated with in all my years of guiding. Over the top: They have given me everything I need AND they have done the extras to support all the other stuff like my seminar raffle and the Captain Mel Classic. Generous is an understatement. Somewhere in the future there will be a change. Craig will take a buyout and be in retirement. No one deserves it more. It has been a pleasure.

“I have really been getting into the fishing with the 12 fathom lures. I was really surprised to see how many more strikes I have been getting with them. In the past week I have landed more snook than I ever have in the past. Not only more of them but BIG ones!

So the reason I am writing you as I want to learn more about how to fish them. I have been using the fat sam 4 inch pearl white and the shimmer gold. Both produce but I have been doing alot more beach fishing and missing some HUGE fish. I am just not able to set the hook. Twice this week I have missed some really REALY BIG fish. You know the kinds when you set the hook and all you feel is a brick wall on the other end. I know these were not snags as I was fishing the beach and both times I saw the fish turn over.

So I would be very interested in learning more about these lures in particular and any info about hook setting. Types of hooks, debarbing, sharpening the hooks, etc. I do not want to miss those big ones. They dont come around so often and to miss them is heartbreaking.”

They are a great product. As you know, I helped set up the new “Saltwater Series” for 12 Fathom. There are great products by many companies but I got to work directly with the Bayhi’s closely and enjoy the affiliation very much. We continue to talk about the product line and work with people such as yourself to help them become better at connecting on fish using the lures.

A lure for every species, they have it covered with the Saltwater Series. Building the 12 Fathom brand after Craig bought the name, we adjusted it from what 12 Fathom originally was. We incorporated Producto Lure designs into the 12 Fathom product line.

How to fish them is included in the articles below. The Buzz Tail is a straight cast and retrieve lure. The SlamR can be moved at very slow speeds. The Mullet is a lure that requires the most technique. A paddle tail, you need to master the rod tip angles and speed for the action that gets the most strikes. But they all work. Read on and get more info on all of these products.

The late Doug Hemmer: A big user of the SlamR, motoroil in color. Doug is gone now but he was a good one.

Jeremy Heimes: Catching all his fish on 12 Fathom lures.

My clients: Hundreds of them addicted to 12 Fathom lures. They work so they are a good buy. Where I have failed: I should have spent more time stopping in to tackle stores to tell them they need to have the lures in there.

I am a huge SlamR guy now. When it’s redfish? It is the Mullet. The Buzz Tail is the all time secret weapon. The quietest landing lure I have ever used, I used it for shallow water snook (back when we had snook) with great success. The Buzz Tail is that secret weapon for a number of species when they aren’t interested in other lures. The Gambini, a trout catcher. The Scarface Shrimp, a true creature bait: Huge for things like Black Drum that only eat crusty things.

If you aren’t using 12 Fathom lures, you are not having as much success as you could have. I would be more than happy to help you with how to do it.. These lures are Gold.

Full time kayak fishing guide, Neil was an advocate for conservation since before the time he started guiding.Outdoor writer, speaker and radio show host, Neil connected closely with Captain Mel Berman and did many positives with Mel to promote ethical angling. After Mel passed away, Neil managed www.capmel.com and eventually became that web site’s owner.

Full time kayak fishing guide, Neil was an advocate for conservation since before the time he started guiding. Outdoor writer, speaker and radio show host, Neil connected closely with Captain Mel Berman and did many positives with Mel to promote ethical angling. After Mel passed away, Neil managed www.capmel.com and eventually became that web site’s owner.